LANDMINE/UXO CASUALTIES AND SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE

New Victims in 2000-2001

Although
progress has been made since the entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty,
landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to claim new
victims.[27] In 2000 and through
May 2001, Landmine Monitor finds that there were new landmine/UXO victims in 73
countries.[28] Landmine Monitor
also registered mine casualties in nine regions it monitors because of their
significant landmine/UXO
problems.[29] In calendar year
2000, new victims were registered in 70 countries and eight regions. In 2001,
additional casualties were recorded in Cuba, Ecuador, Indonesia and the Golan
Heights. The sources of data included official databases, government records,
hospital records, media reports, surveys/assessments, and interviews.

Landmine Monitor has identified approximately 8,000 new landmine/UXO
casualties in calendar year 2000. However, this number is far from the actual
total of new mine victims. This figure does not include the thousands of
casualties that are believed to go unreported as victims are killed or injured
in remote areas away from any form of assistance or means of communication.
There is no reliable reporting in some heavily-affected countries; for example,
the 8,000 figure does not include casualties in Burma (which Landmine Monitor
Report 2000 estimated could be some 1,500 per year), or in Vietnam (where
the government estimates more than 100,000 mine/UXO casualties since the
war’s end).

While it is impossible to arrive at a precise total, it
would seem certain that the number of new mine victims is now on the order of
15,000 to 20,000 per year, an encouraging decline from the long-standing and
widely used estimate of 26,000 per year.

From January 2000 to the end of May
2001, landmine/UXO casualties were reported in:

Landmine and UXO Casualties In 2000-2001

Africa

Americas

Asia-Pacific

Europe/ Central Asia

Middle East/ North Africa

Angola

Bolivia

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Burundi

Chile

Bangladesh

Armenia

Egypt

Chad

Colombia

Burma (Myanmar)

Azerbaijan

Iran

DR Congo

Cuba

Cambodia

Belarus*

Iraq

Djibouti

Ecuador

China

Belgium*

Israel

Eritrea

El Salvador

India

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Jordan

Ethiopia

Nicaragua

Indonesia

Croatia

Kuwait

Guinea-Bissau

Peru

Korea, RO

Estonia

Lebanon

Kenya

Laos

Georgia

Morocco

Liberia

Mongolia*

Greece

Yemen

Malawi

Nepal

Kyrgyzstan

Golan Heights

Mauritania

Pakistan

Latvia*

Northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan)

Mozambique

Philippines

Macedonia

Palestine

Namibia

Sri Lanka

Russia

Western Sahara

Rwanda

Thailand

Tajikistan

Senegal

Vietnam

Turkey

Somalia

Ukraine

Sudan

Uzbekistan

Uganda

Yugoslavia, FR

Zimbabwe

Abkhazia

Somaliland

Chechnya

Kosovo

Nagorno-Karabakh

* Casualties identified as being caused by UXO only

Scale of the Problem

Complete
data on landmine/UXO casualties is difficult to obtain, particularly in
countries experiencing ongoing conflict or with limited communication systems.
To address this problem, in several mine-affected countries databases have been
set up to systematically collect information on mine victims. In others, NGOs
are carrying out surveys to assess the extent of the problem.

In 2000-2001,
as shown in the chart, mine/UXO accidents are still occurring in every region of
the world: in 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, in 19 countries in Europe and
Central Asia, in 16 countries in Asia and the Pacific, in 10 countries in the
Middle East and North Africa, and in 8 countries in the Americas. While ongoing
conflict is a major problem in several mine-affected countries, Landmine Monitor
has found that a majority (45) of the 73 countries that suffered new mine/UXO
casualties in 2000-2001 had not experienced any active armed conflict during the
research period. In many cases, the conflict had ended years or even decades
ago.

Although in many instances Landmine Monitor considers the casualty
figures to be incomplete, a sampling of the findings from the Landmine
Monitor Report 2001 country reports follows. It should be noted these
findings are for calendar year 2000, unless otherwise stated, and that some
include casualties only for certain regions of a country.

In Angola, 840 casualties were recorded;

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, 92 casualties were recorded;

In Chad, approximately 300 casualties were reported over the past 24
months;

In Colombia, 83 casualties were reported;

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 189 casualties have been reported since
1997;

In Eritrea, 49 casualties were reported in May and June 2000;

In Georgia, 51 casualties were reported between January and June 2001;

In Lebanon, 113 casualties were recorded;

In Namibia, 139 casualties were reported;

In Somalia, 147 casualties were reported in just two central regions;

In Somaliland, 107 casualties were recorded;

In Sudan, more than 321 casualties were reported between September 1999 and
March 2001;

In Tajikistan, 58 casualties were reported between August 2000 and early May
2001;

In Thailand, 350 casualties were identified in the Level One Survey over the
past 24 months;

In Uganda, 602 casualties were identified between 1991 and March
2001.

Several countries reported mine/UXO casualties in 2000 and
2001 that had not done so in 1999: Bolivia, Cuba, El Salvador, Indonesia,
Malawi, and Uzbekistan. Only in the cases of Indonesia (Aceh) and Uzbekistan
were the new mine/UXO casualties the result of new instances of conflict.

Several countries were dropped from Landmine Monitor’s previous
casualty list, due to lack of tangible evidence to indicate new victims,
although these countries remain mine-affected: Cyprus, North Korea, Moldova,
Niger, Oman, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia. It should be noted that
although Tanzania has recorded no new casualties in 2000-2001, the country does
provide assistance to mine survivors coming over the border from Burundi.

In
some of the heavily-affected countries and regions, notably those with
established mine casualty databases, it appears that the casualty rate is
declining, in some cases quite substantially:

In Afghanistan, an average of 88 casualties per month were recorded in 2000,
compared to 130 per month in 1999; although it should be noted that MAPA still
estimates a true casualty rate of between 150 and 300 per month;

In Albania, 35 casualties were recorded in 2000, down from 191 in 1999;

In Cambodia, 802 casualties were recorded in 2000, down from 1,049 in
1999;

In Croatia, 22 casualties were recorded in 2000, down from 51 in 1999;

In Kosovo, 95 casualties were recorded in 2000, down from 342 registered
between 16 June (end of conflict) and 31 December 1999;

In Nagorno-Karabakh, 15 casualties were recorded in 2000, down from 30 in
1999.

In a number of mine-affected countries and regions the
casualty rate appeared to increase in 2000-2001. In some countries the increase
is due to new or expanded conflict, or the movement of refugees and IDPs:
Colombia, Chechnya, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Namibia, and Tajikistan. In other
countries the increase appears to be a result of improved data collection, for
example, Armenia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

In 2000/2001, landmine/UXO
casualties also include nationals coming from mine-free countries, or other
mine-affected countries, killed or injured while abroad engaged in military or
demining operations, peacekeeping, tourism, or other activities. These
countries include Bhutan, Canada, France, Honduras, Macedonia, Norway, Portugal,
Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, United Kingdom, and the United States of
America.

In addition to the new casualties registered in 2000-2001, Landmine
Monitor has previously identified more than 30 other countries with an incidence
of landmine survivors from previous years. In other words, countries with no
new landmine casualties in 2000-2001, but which nevertheless have landmine
survivors from prior years that still require assistance. Consequently, more
than half the countries in the world are affected to some extent by the landmine
problem and the issue of survivors.

Regardless of the difficulties in
obtaining complete data, based on the information gathered for Landmine
Monitor Report 2001, two points are clear:

landmines continue to pose a significant, lasting and non-discriminatory
threat; and

the majority of new mine victims are civilians.

Landmine Victims: Needs and Assistance

The
principal actors in victim assistance generally agree that victim assistance
includes the following
components:[30]

Pre-hospital Care
(first aid and management of injuries): Healthcare and community workers in
mine-affected areas should be trained in emergency first aid to respond
effectively to landmine and other traumatic injuries.

Rehabilitation (physiotherapy,
prosthetic appliances and assistive devices, psychological support):
Rehabilitative services should produce devices that are safe, durable, and can
be maintained and repaired locally. Community-based peer support groups can
offer cost-effective psychological, social and other benefits.

Social and
Economic Reintegration (associations, skills and vocational training, income
generating projects, sports): Assistance programs must work to improve the
economic status of the disabled population in mine-affected communities through
education, economic development and community infrastructure and creation of
employment opportunities.

Disability Policy and Practice (education and
public awareness and disability laws): National legislation should promote
effective treatment, care and protection for all disabled citizens, including
landmine survivors.

Health and Social Welfare Surveillance and Research
capacities (data collection, processing, analysis, and reporting).

Survivor/Victim Assistance

The
Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance promotes a
comprehensive, integrated approach to victim assistance that rests on a
three-tiered definition of a landmine victim. This means that a victim includes
directly affected individuals, their families, and mine-affected communities.
Consequently, victim assistance is viewed as a wide range of activities that
benefit individuals, families and communities.

However, throughout the
Landmine Monitor Report 2001 the term Survivor Assistance is used
in the country reports to describe activities directed at landmine victims. The
focus of the research for this report is on the individual directly affected by
a mine accident. The use of the term survivor is intended to emphasize
this distinction.

Capacities of Affected States to Provide Assistance to Landmine Victims

A
detailed analysis of States’ efforts and capacities to adequately address
the needs of landmine victims, and the disabled in general, is beyond the scope
of the research undertaken for this
report.[31] In the Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, details on the availability of the various components
of survivor assistance in mine-affected countries were
presented.[32] Little has changed
in the provision of services during this reporting period. Nevertheless, from
the research collected some general observations can be made.

It is believed that many mine casualties die before reaching medical
assistance;

In many of the countries reporting new casualties, the assistance provided
to mine victims is inadequate to meet their needs;

Most services are located in urban centers whereas the majority of mine
survivors can be found in rural areas where the concentration of mine pollution
is greatest;

The majority of resources continue to be directed toward medical and
physical rehabilitation;

In the majority of countries with mine survivors the demand for new and
replacement prostheses exceeds the available supply;

Generally, the availability of assistance in psychological support and
socio-economic reintegration is limited or non-existent;

International Organizations, international and local NGOs, and UN agencies
continue to play a key role in the delivery of services to mine survivors;

Generally, the care afforded to civilian mine casualties is not as
comprehensive as that available to military casualties;

The economic situation of many mine-affected countries is an obstacle to the
provision of adequate assistance to landmine survivors;

On-going conflict, and the consequent security concerns, in some
mine-affected countries is severely hampering the ability of the government and
international agencies to provide adequate assistance to landmine survivors;
and

The development of programs that address the needs of landmine survivors,
and the disabled population in general, is being hampered by the practice of
many donors to only fund individual programs for a limited period of time. A
commitment to long-term funding is needed to ensure sustainability and the
building of local capacities to carry-on the programs.

Africa

In Angola, national authorities have adopted a new
five-year plan for physical rehabilitation.

In Mozambique, the recently created Council for Action on Disability will
work closely with NGOs and international agencies to build capacity internally
and move toward long-term sustainability of programs for the disabled.

In Uganda, a new disability policy has been put in place.

Americas

In Colombia, the government has launched a new
Program for Mine Accident Prevention and Victim Assistance.

In Guatemala, the Center for International Rehabilitation is designing a
specific victim assistance and rehabilitation program that will be replicated
throughout the country in coordination with the Ministry of Health.

In Nicaragua, the government, through the CND and together with NGOs and
international organizations, is in the process of developing a national policy
on victim assistance that will take into account rehabilitation and economic
reintegration.

Asia-Pacific

In Afghanistan, due to a budget shortfall in 2000,
UNOPS/CDAP had to reduce its community rehabilitation program from 64 to 46
districts.

In Cambodia, the Disability Action Council, together with affiliated members
and relevant government ministries, issued the Cambodian Plan of Action, which
provides an orientation strategy for the disability and rehabilitation
sector.

In China, the CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 report included for the
first time a section on Rehabilitation and Relief of Civilians Accidentally
Injured by Landmines.

Europe/Central Asia

In Albania, an agreement was signed between the
Albanian Mine Action Center and the Slovenian International Trust Fund to
provide forty mine survivors with prostheses up to June 2001.

In Armenia, in October 2000 the Yerevan Prosthetic and Orthotic Center
stopped providing medical assistance due to a lack of funding. Operations were
resumed in February 2001.

In Azerbaijan, the Victim Assistance component of the National Mine Action
Plan, budgeted to cost $150,000, has not been implemented due to the absence of
donor funding.

In Chechnya, UNICEF with the support of a local NGO, Voice of the Mountains,
is developing a database on mine casualties. Women and children were reported as
suffering 34 percent of all landmine and UXO injuries, which account for 67
percent of all casualties related to hostilities.

In Georgia, the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs is developing a
special program for the care and rehabilitation of the disabled.

In Ukraine, the government fulfilled its budget obligations and financed the
activities of the orthopedic centers in full. A series of state decrees
relating to the disabled, including mine victims, have been
accepted.

Middle East/North Africa

In Algeria, the Ministry of National Solidarity and
Handicap International signed a partnership agreement to establish a program to
provide assistance to the disabled.

In Egypt, the Minister of Social Affairs signed a year 2000 budget for
$27,000 for the compensation of mine/UXO victims.

In Iraq, the ICRC reports that an estimated 3,000 patients per year receive
ICRC prostheses, of whom over 50 percent are mine survivors.

In Lebanon, the Ministry of Health stopped providing prosthetic services due
to a lack of funding. In May 2000, a new disability law was passed by the
Parliament.

In Yemen, the Ministry of Insurance, Social Affairs, and Labor (MOISA) and
the Ministry of Public Health, in partnership with Handicap International
(Belgium) established a rehabilitation center in Aden. MOISA has reorganized
its community based rehabilitation program to be more responsive to the needs of
landmine survivors.

Addressing the Needs of Survivors

Added
to the number of new casualties each year are the survivors from previous years,
estimated in Landmine Monitor Report 1999 to number 300,000.
Consequently, the number of survivors requiring assistance continues to grow
every year. In many mine-affected countries, the assistance provided to mine
survivors remains inadequate to meet their needs.

In contrast to mine
clearance activities, which potentially have an end point, the needs of landmine
survivors are long-term. A landmine survivor will require ongoing medical and
rehabilitation services, and services assisting in socio-economic reintegration
and psychological support. For amputees, prostheses will require repair and
replacement. To ensure sustainability, assistance to landmine survivors should
be viewed as a part of a country’s overall public health and social
services system. Landmine survivors should not be viewed as a group separate
from other war victims or persons with disabilities. In providing resources to
support programs that address the needs of landmine survivors, the international
community is in effect assisting to build the infrastructure that will benefit
all people with disabilities in a mine-affected country. Ideally, victim
assistance programs should be open to all persons with disabilities, but with
clear benefits and explicit inclusion of landmine victims. It is essential that
support from the international community focuses on local capacity-building and
that each element of victim assistance be seen as a step towards the complete
rehabilitation of survivors, and other persons with disabilities, into the wider
community.

States and Victim Assistance

The
Mine Ban Treaty requires, in Article 6.3, that “Each State in a position
to do so shall provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation, and social
and economic reintegration, of mine victims and for mine awareness
programs.”

As with the number of new victims, precise, comprehensive
and comparable figures for victim assistance funding are difficult to obtain as
some governments do not provide specific amounts for victim assistance, but
rather consider victim assistance as an integrated part of humanitarian mine
action. In other instances, some countries, for example the United Kingdom, do
not specify amounts for victim assistance although assistance is provided
through bilateral development cooperation. Another problem is differences in
reporting periods (fiscal years) in donor countries. In addition, many victim
assistance programs are carried out by NGOs who receive funding from private
donors. Therefore, information provided by Landmine Monitor should not be taken
as fully representative of the total global funding for victim assistance
programs in a given year.

From information provided in country reports,
donors to mine victim assistance in 2000-2001
included:[34]

Australia $1.88
million

Austria $233,105

Belgium $716,172

Canada $1.34
million

Finland $147,000

France $213,980

Germany $1
million

Ireland $341,743

Italy $1.32 million

Japan $1.14
million

Netherlands $2.41 million

New
Zealand $93,842

Norway $4.48 million

United States of America up to
$11 million

Member countries of the European Union also contribute to EU
mine action programs. The EU contributed to victim assistance programs in 2000
through various departments, including the European Commission Humanitarian
Office (ECHO). In 2000, 20% percent of overall contributions from the European
Commission and the Member States was allocated to Victim Assistance
programs.[35]

In 2000, 11
countries, the European Union, and 12 organizations and companies contributed
about $29 million to the Slovenian International Trust Fund for Demining and
Victim Assistance. (See Slovenia country report). However, only $1.4 million
went to victim assistance programs, well below the ITF’s target of 15
percent. The fund has reportedly been unable to attract donors to support
victim assistance.

The ICRC Special Appeal for Mine Action, which focuses
on mine awareness and victim assistance continued to attract donors including
South Africa and Sweden. It should be noted that in some cases amounts listed
above against specific countries include a component of funding to the ICRC
Special Appeal.

As more donor countries complete the voluntary Form J
attachment to the Article 7 report, it is envisaged that it will be possible to
provide a clearer picture of victim assistance programs and the funding
available.

The Intersessional Standing Committee

The
Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, Socio-Economic
Reintegration and Mine Awareness (SC-VA) continued its work in 2000-2001. Since
September 2000 the SC-VA has been co-chaired by Japan and Nicaragua, having
taken over this role from Mexico and Switzerland. The co-rapporteurs are Canada
and Honduras (who will become co-chairs in September 2001).

Building on
previous outcomes, important work was accomplished during two intersessional
meetings, held in December 2000 and May 2001, in Geneva, Switzerland. The
meetings continued in what has been described as a “spirit of practical
cooperation, inclusivity and collegiality.” Both meetings were also well
attended by numerous international and non-governmental organizations, including
the ICBL. The meetings continued with six main themes: raising the voices of
landmine survivors; linking resources with needs; implementing lessons learned
relating to coordination of victim assistance; guidelines, information
dissemination and information management; social and economic reintegration; and
mine awareness.

At the May 2001 meeting, participants were introduced to
eight landmine survivors from the Americas who are involved in the first phase
of the “raising the voices” initiative. The “survivor
advocates” will be trained to enhance their capacity to represent,
organize and advocate on behalf of landmine survivors and other disabled persons
in their home countries, and to actively participate in SC-VA meetings and other
meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty process.

The SC-VA was successful in
encouraging States Parties to accept, and complete, the new, voluntary Article 7
Form J for reporting on victim assistance activities and other matters.
Discussions have continued on the need to further develop and use the various
indicators available in order to obtain a more comprehensive view on the level
of need as it pertains to victim assistance. The Co-Chairs encouraged the ICBL
Working Group on Victim Assistance and other relevant actors to pursue their
work in this area. The challenges faced in providing adequate victim assistance
were also discussed. The first Portfolio of Victim Assistance Programs, another
SC-VA initiative, listing a selection of victim assistance projects worldwide
was released in September 2000. A second edition is due for release in
September 2001.

The need for coordination of victim assistance at a national
level was reiterated. At least two studies will be undertaken in 2001 to
address this issue. The GICHD, in cooperation with UNMAS, is undertaking a
study on the role of mine action in assistance to mine and UXO victims. The
results of the study are due for release in the last quarter of 2001. The
second study involves a workshop organized by Handicap International in
Southeast Asia in November 2001. The workshop’s main objective is to
exchange views on the methods used to meet the challenges defined in country
action plans.

Following a commitment made in December 2000, the Co-Chairs
released a compilation of guidelines entitled Providing assistance to
landmine victims: A collection of guidelines, best practices and
methodologies. The text will also be available in French and Spanish by the
Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001.

The focus of discussions
on social and economic reintegration centered on vocational and psycho-social
rehabilitation. In terms of vocational rehabilitation states and relevant
organizations were encouraged to work toward reducing vulnerability and
promoting self-reliance.

The SC received an update from international
organizations and NGOs concerning the development of preventive education
efforts in mine-affected countries. The need for more time to discuss mine
awareness within the Standing Committee framework was raised. It was reiterated
that the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance and Related Technologies would be
a more appropriate forum in which to discuss mine awareness.

Finally,
participants were reminded that the purpose of the SC-VA is to identify
practical means of ensuring implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. The
Co-Chairs encouraged all participants to consider mechanisms for ensuring that
the profusion of information, advice and suggestions presented to the SC-VA are
converted into concrete actions that benefit landmine victims.

[27] For the purposes of
Landmine Monitor research casualties include victims of antipersonnel mines,
antivehicle mines, UXO, and in some instances improvised explosive devices that
function as AP mines. From the information available in many countries it is
not always possible to determine with certainty the type of weapon that caused
the incident.
[28] In the
2000/2001 period, Landmine Monitor researchers definitively recorded new
mine/UXO casualties in 71 countries; in another two countries, casualties were
not formally reported, but evidence points to the strong likelihood of new
victims, based on the scope of the landmine problem and reports of victims in
earlier years.
[29] These
include Abkhazia, Chechnya, Golan Heights, Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, northern
Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), Palestine, Somaliland, and Western Sahara.
[30] For further information
see Guidelines for the Care and Rehabilitation of Survivors, ICBL Working
Group on Victim Assistance. See also Providing assistance to landmine
victims: A collection of guidelines, best practices and methodologies,
compiled by the Co-Chairs of the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance,
Socio-Economic Reintegration and Mine Awareness, May
2001.
[31] A more detailed study
on this important area is compiled by Handicap International. The second
edition of the report, entitled Landmine Victim Assistance: World Report
2001, due for release in December 2001 examines a wide range of indicators
to determine a state’s capacity to adequately address the needs of the
disabled, including landmine
victims.
[32] For details see
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
27-31.
[33] ICRC Annual Report
2000, p. 20.
[34] All amounts are
expressed in US dollars.
[35]
Email from Veronica Borghini, Assistant to Daniella Dicorrado, Chair of the Mine
Action Coordination Group, European Commission External Relations Directorate
General (Directorate CFSP Security Policy), to Annalisa Formiconi, Handicap
International (Belgium), 26 July 2001.